Aircraft with quadricycle landing gear



Nov. 17, 1953 w. H. SCHLENDER 2,659,555

AIRCRAFT WITH QUADRICYCLE LANDING GEAR Filed July 27, 1951 3 Sheets-Shem l M+MM 1 1953 w. H. SCHLENDER 2,659,555

AIRCRAFT WITH QUADRICYCLE LANDING GEAR Filed July 27, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 /0 INVENTOR.

. 4 WILL/AM H. 5C'HZE/VDEE U f B! I wv m Nov. 17, 1953 w. H. SCHLENDER ,555

AIRCRAFT WITH QUADRICYCLE LANDING GEAR Filed July 27, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 1- JNVENTOR.

L/ MlZ/AM A. 50/10/052 .BY 4 I.

A TTOE/VE Patented Nov. 17, 1953 OFFICE 7 AraonAF-T WITH -,QUADRICCLE LANDING .GEAR

I SClaims. 1

f Large 'high speed aircraft "propelledby multiple jet engines are purposely designed with th-in,' very flexible Wings, and it is a very-serious design-restriction in this type-"of airplane, "as distinguished from propeller driven airplanes, if the landing units or elements, a-ndt-heir retracting mechanism, have to be mounted upon or beneath the wing; and from suchoutboard pointsim ist support any appreciable part ofthe weight of the aircraft. Not only the Weight 'of t-heseparts; but likewise the loads they would sustain; wo'uldrequire thestiffenin ofthe wing; and probably its thickening, but inaddition it would "be; difficult to house the landing elements within the th-in wing section, or withinthe jet pods, yet any unnecessary-protuberance, notwithstanding fairing and the like, will-increase the drag, and thereforedecrease the effective range andthe speed of the aircraft.

=In-previous designs of such aircraft (see the patent to- Van Zelm' et aLfNo; 2,483,027ydated September 27, 194.9)it hasbeen attempted to solve the difficulty by supporting the aircraft on the ground primarily by means of aso-called'bicycleor tandem arrangement constituting asingle' fore and a single rear landing uniteach capable of projecting downwardly from the fuselage in the longitudinal vertical centrarplane, and of retracting upwardly in that plane within'the fuselage. Wh-ile dual wheels have'been used; to afford greater area and distributionof ground 'contact, even so such landing gear is comparable to a-bicycle, and afforded nooutboa'rdzsupport, for the lateral stability of dual wheelsis inconsequential in a large airplane, and "they are not-used ona small airplane. It was still nec-' essary to provide outrigger -gears on the wings,

whichhad to be designed'to absorb considerable loads, and for use in all circumstances, whenever =the'airplane is ground-borne, and thiss'till re- --quired a material compromise in thedesign of hthe -wing, and of the jet engine pods. Suchoutrigger gearsgof course, can-be-made'the lighter the farther out from the longitudinal center line ofrthe fuselage they are located, and yet the farther from the longitudinal center. line of the fuselage the greater loads would they constitute in flight upon the structure of the .thin flexible wings, and the more d-ifiicult WOll1d..lt be "to ,fair ,them in fully when retracted.

Quadricycle landing-gears arezrknown, per se,

v but in order to aiford a laterally broadbaseof :IstabiIity, it has been considered necessary to mount-atleast two,v or sometimes all'four, or the landing units on the wings or engine- -nacelles or '2 jet "pods; outboardof-the fuselage, wherefore fthe wings have hadto be designed of siiificient strength --t r assume the necessary -loading, I and the wings; nacellespor jet pods had-to be t ick enough to receive the" outboard landing j'u its, each of which design factors ordinarily precludes the use of a thin, highspeed airfoil section '-"or at best (andespecially ifdual wheels areused for better"load distribution) requires drag -producing-fairing for such portionsof the la r-r ding unitsas'can not be housed within the" wing. In distinction to such -*kn0Wn quadricycle landing gear -arrangeri1ehtsfit-is an object of this inven- 'ti'o'nto-"support the four landing gear u'nit's df a-recta-ngularquadricycle landing geartwo rare units and two rear units, with those at tl'ie-r e- 'spective sides alignedfrontand rear) whei-iyae 'o'n'the fuselage," which isor can be mesa-ad quately-strong to absorb the loads transmitted through suchunits, in such a waythat t-hey an be' -housed, when-retracted; wholly within re- -cessesin th'e' fuselage-and with their dual whels virtuallyinaligninent one with anOtherQ *the -vrtical -longittrdinal plane of symnietryf yet spread widely enough laterally when extended-to *a iford, withdut' 'rnore, an adequately -broad-- and "stable -*-ba'se -o' upport. By such arrangement it-is possible t achieve the broader obje'ctiy "of eeavmgwhewmgenemy-nee ofany gr'ound support or stabilizing functions, or of 'anyfairingpr 'ther protuberance for housing landing units, wherefore the wing design can be controlledpri marily'by aerodynamic factors, with noloading other than the 'suppbrtof the jet engines 'thems'el-ves' to require modification from purely arodynamicconsiderations.

It-isa-n object,-- moreover, to provide such-"an aircraft'and landingunits in association therewith in'whicheach-landing unit as a wholeisa duplicate of each other unit,-thereby simplifying "procurement and replacement problems; 1 and in ""whksh each unit -isarranged for retractiona'nd "extensionsiibstantially simultaneously with other lunitsgand in-ejinanner to avoid completely any shift, laterally o'r longitudinally, of the "center of'gravityarisingfrom their retraction o'r'ekteh- It is'a furtherobject to simplify the.'design or the aircraf tfiwith particular reference to theabs'orptio'n' of the loads imposed upon '1 it by Tc'ir through the landingunits; by mountingth'eltwo 'units bf'eachpairfthe 'fore and the rearpairs, -res-pectively;eachupon a single bulkhead, whereby that -'-bull -head may be specially" designed Lto receive andabsorb aIPIoa-ds so imposed lup'onlor transmitted to it, including, preferably, the loads required for extension and for retraction.

It is a further object to improve the stability of such a landing arrangement, and of the aircraft which is thereby supported, and at the same time to lessen the size of individual ground-contacting elements, so that they, and the landing units as a whole, may be fully and completely retracted within the outline of th fuselage, by employing dual landing wheels for each unit, each wheel whereof is thereby capable of being made smaller than if a single wheel only were required to absorb the entire load at touching down. Nevertheless, considered in the broader sense, each dual pair of wheels constitutes but a single cycle or support.

It is a further object to provide a simple arrangement for retracting, locking, and unlocking the landing gear, and to provide preferably a single bracing or looking strut for retaining and locking the landing gear in extended position, and likewise in retracted position, together with lock-releasing means capable of remote control, and movable with the locking strut to release the same from either such position, when required.

With the above and other objects in mind, as will appear hereinafter as this specification progresses, the present invention comprises the novel aircraft and landing gear in combination one with the other, and the novel details of the landing gear in its relation to such a fuselage and aircraft, all as shown in the accompanying drawings in an illustrative form, and as will be more particularly described in this specification and defined by the claims which terminate the same.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of such an aircraft, as though seen from below in flight, but with the four landing units down.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of a pair of such landing units, both supported from a single bulkhead, showing parts in full lines in the extended or landing position, and in dot-dash lines in the retracted position.

Figure 3 is an isometric view of the upper end of on such unit, showing in association therewith parts of the fuselage bulkhead and the retracting and locking mechanism associated with the landing unit.

Figure 4 is in the nature of a transverse sectional view through the fuselage, showing the two landing units of a given pair in elevation as viewed from the front or the rear.

Figure 5 is an isometric view of a single unit in extended position, illustrating its relationship to the fuselage and to the center line thereof, and Figure 6 is a similar view of the same unit in retracted position, likewise illustrating its relationship to the fuselage.

Figure 7 is an elevational view, looking in a direction laterally outwardly and parallel to the axis of the pivot support, illustrating the looking strut and other parts in extended position, with the locking means engaged; Figure 8 is an enlarged detail, showing the locking means disengaged; and Figure 9 is a view similar to Figure 7 showing, in dotted lines, a position of the parts intermediate retracted and extended positions, and in full lines the parts in retracted position and the locking means reengaged.

The aircraft is shown as a large multijet aircraft, including the fuselage, generally indicated by the numeral 9, the thin flexible wings 8, and the outboard jet engine pods I supported beneath the wing. The design illustrated is in ded t represent no specific aircraft, but merely a conventional, possible aircraft, such as the present invention would be employed in conjunction with.

The internal design and construction of the fuselage is not material to the present invention save for the incorporation at two stations of individual transverse bulkheads 9|, which are especially designed to mount the respective pairs of landing units of this invention, and to absorb the loads transmitted from such landing units. The details of the bulkheads 9|, as far as they are pertinent to the understanding of this invention, will be described hereinafter. Presently it may be noted that as viewed in Figure 1, one such bulkhead is located towards the nose of the fuselage, and the other toward the tail, so that they are widely separated, adequately to give the aircraft, when ground borne, adequate longitudinal stability, and a correct attitude for landing and taking off. Just ahead of each such bulkhead Si is a well to receive one unit of the landing gear, and just rearwardly of the same bulkhead is a second well, but on the opposite side of the longitudinal vertical center plane, to receive the other unit of the pair.

All landing units are preferably of identical construction. Generally speaking, each in cludes a substantially upright telescopic shock strut 2, the internal structure of which is not material to this invention, but which incorporates means for absorbing and damping the loads of landing and taxiing. Certain features of the landing unit per se constitute the subject matter of a companion application of Wendell B. Fehring, Serial No. 247,061, filed September 18, 1951. At its lower end each such unit mounts a transverse axle or equivalent member, indicated at ID, for the reception of a single or dual wheels I, and in each dual unit the two wheels I (which functionally are the equivalent of only a single wheel) lie at opposite sides of the shock strut 2. Each shock strut 2, by means such as are indicated at 20 and 2|, which are directed laterally inwardly, mounts a pivot spindle or pin 22, which is disposed upon an axis which is inclined upwardly and outwardly from the longitudinal vertical central plane of the fuselage 9 (see Figure 4). There, at the lower open end of a notch 92 in the bulkhead 9|, the pin 22 is pivotally mounted within the fuselage upon appropriate means, such as the ears 83' and 94 constituting a pivot support, and which are a part of the bulkhead. While the axis defined by the pin 22 is inclined laterally, it preferably lies in the plane of the bulkhead 9| or substantially so,

and thus the pivot axes of the two landing units of each pair are coplanar, but each inclines upwardly and outwardly from the longitudinal vertical central plane of the fuselage. The effect of this is to swin outwardly the swinging, wheelmounting ends of the paired landing units to Widely spaced positions at opposite sides of that plane.

The retracting mechanism is shown herein as consisting of a jack 3, which is pivotally mounted at 30 at the upper or closed end of the notch 92, and directly upon the bulkhead 9i, and its other relatively movable end is similarly connected at 3| to the shock strut 201' to the arm 2| which mounts the same. Since the connection at 3! is outboard of the pivot axis at 22, extension of the jack 3 will tend to move the strut 2 downwardly as it also swings outwardly into substantially upright position.

The movement of the shock strut is limited,

spawns 5, and it is :securedrin:extended position;lay-means of a: lockingstrut :consisting-i'ofctwonparts il sand 42, hingedly connected together at till-for. articulated'movement, and connectedspivotally, thenpper part 4|:to the. bulkhead-Marin: prolongation of the .pivot'axis at 35, and the lowenparti it tot the shock strut or to: a- 'bracket .armiids whichais braced at 25from the shocklstrutyand.whichcarries a pivot; connection at 1.43.:t': the iEIGmGHtAZLOf the locking strut.

The. articulated locking rstrut'i- 4 I 42ais:.iof,-r a length to locate j the shocklstrut. 2: substantia'hy in; upright position when; extended; but: inuorder to retain parts in such. position and-to.- leck; them. a locking element, represented-.cbarr:the: pin-4M, supported from the ,rupperlelement-si I, .iseengageable. with a 1100x145,WhiChSi-Sififiillifid vl'iythe, lower element .42. These, lcckingxmeansare'zreleasable from a distance; and as representative oirrneans to this end there is an actuatorsdfi:carriedjby'zthe element H of the locking strut-which isazoperativelyv connected, as by a: pull. 00rd l'lixand-jlever 58, to the pin ifito withdraw thezsamefromithe hook at when the. actuator-46,=is:energized. The pin 44 and'thehook 45 autornaticallytreengage when parts reach the extended position; withthe elements M and '42 of the lockingstrutiinaligm ment.

Parts are so-designed and-located; that the parts ti and 42 of the docking strut,-:when ,dis-

engaged, will swing relative to one anotheron their common pivot at 49, and w-illvpass-through the notch 92 to the opposite side thereof, and when the shock strut 2 is in its retracted position the bracket arm "24 willlie..atztheopposite side of the bulkhead 9| from its-position when parts are in extended position, and the locking strut All, 42 will again be extended with its parts in alignment, and the lockingmeans 4t, '45 will again engage automatically and--retain parts-in retracted position. Compare Figures 5 and 65, and see Figures '7, 8 and 9. In the same manner as before, the actuatortfi, whenenergized,willpull the locking pin M away from the book 55 to release the locking means, andpermit thelocking strut to be .broken andto,swing-.again-throu h the notch 92 towards and into extended position. All such movement of the shock strut 2 and associated parts occurs through.ther-mediumiofthe jack 3, and by proper manipulationand control of the same (except as the separate energization of the actuator 46 effects release of the lock).

Coming now to the general arrangement of the parts, it will be observed (see Figure 2, in particular) that a given bulkhead 9|, whether it be the forward one or the rearward one, mounts each of the two identical landing units and the operating mechanism for each thereof, so that no other part of the aircraft in the vicinity of this particular bulkhead is required to be designed to receive and absorb any of the landing loads. Conversely, this single bulkhead may be properly designed to receive and absorb all such loads. The design of the fuselage and of the aircraft as a whole is greatly simplified thereby, and not the least of the simplification thereby accomplished is that the landing units are mounted upon and connected to the fuselage directly, rather than to the wing structure at any point.

By placing the pivot axis 22 for retraction in an inclined position, as already described, and by mounting the identical landing units of each pair so that one thereof swings forwardly in retract ing, and the other swings rearwardly, the two spreadziatenallyvswidely;apart;-whenrextendedrso the center...of;.gravity. eMoreoverhsince'the two retract :andcextentt conj ointly, one forwardly and one rearwardly; there is: :no shift whatsoever of thementer: of gratityioccasionedbythe actions "of retracting wor.:extending;:;eitherninl th elongitrudinal or in the lateral sense.

Figure, 2 1EShOWS '.;in;-- efiectri insolidi: lines the ground-borne 2 position ::of cthe orourr wheeler-:01- giverrpair 20f landingsunita at Id theposition of the same z-awheelswwhen the: :aircraftyis'airaborne. with the landing gear still .extendeduand illustrates at; i bithe locationoi the dualwheels foi one unit wheniretractcdoandiat i c the corresponding retractedposition :of :the iothen wheels :of the pair. Thel-ocus rot the :endsiof. the axes; :of -thei :wheels from 1-1 a to 1| b iSfShOWIIaISQJiII dot-dash lines. LAS Figure 6 .shows;:the'rwheels' when thus retracted lie wholly. within :the-routline OIIESklII :of the". fuselage, and thdzODBIlilES.i'llhrollghz'whlflh theyzzare retracted rare. in such cases :closed: bywappropniate doors ,99; which: in effect form;'wheniclosem parts of the skin :of; the-fuselage.

. The: provision of wing-tipprotective-wheels*is not to, :be ruled out; :but 1 these, i if- ;used,=:would:;be for the primary: purpose {of holdingthaiving I tip from ground contactnn-lmin :the event; or. a decidedzlateral tilt 1511011138. would rarely occur; but not: to.-s.upport itheraircr'aft 1 while: ground-borne. Normally the ientire-lea'd ofithe aircraft: would be assumed by the wheels I, and thexwingtip wheels, if used,-would assume no appreciable-portion of the entire load, wouldnotcontact the ground under any normal circumstances, hence could be made adequately small and light.

I claim as my invention:

1. An airplane comprising a fuselage, four transverse pivot supports carried by and located within the fuselage, arranged in a fore pair and a rear pair, the pivot supports of each pair defining pivot axes which are inclined upwardly and outwardly at the respectively opposite sides of the longitudinal vertical central plane of the fuselage, said fuselage being recessed forwardly of one pivot axis of each pair and rearwardly of the other pivot axis of the same pair, for the reception, when retracted, of the respective landing units of such pair; four like landing units, each comprising a shock strut which is generally upright when extended in landing position, and the upper end of which is pivotally mounted upon its corresponding inclined pivot support, a groundcontacting element at the lower end of each shock strut, retracting mechanism mounted within and reacting from the fuselage, and operatively connected to each landing unit to swing each thereof, with its ground-contacting element, upwardly paired landing units, as seen best in Figure 4, are and inwardly of the fuselage about its inclined pivot axis, and respectively forwardly or rearwardly, as the case may be, into its recess in the fuselage, from its outspread and upright landing position to its retracted position, the location of the respective pivot supports and the inclination of their pivot axes being so related to the fuselage shape and the shape of the landing units as to move the two ground-contacting elements of each pair into the vicinity of such longitudinal vertical central plane within the fuselage when retracted, and to spread them widely enough when extended to afford, per se, lateral stability to the airplane when ground-borne.

2. The combination defined in claim 1, wherein the two pivot supports of a pair have their pivot axes located in a common transverse plane.

3. The combination defined in claim 1, wherein the fuselage includes two transverse bulkheads, one disposed in the plane of and itself mounting the pivotal supports for each of the respective pairs of shock struts, and each constructed and arranged to resist within itself all landing and taxiing loads transmitted by the corresponding pair of landing units.

4. The combination of claim 1, characterized in that the ground-contacting element of each of the four landing units consists of dual landing wheels disposed at opposite sides of the corresponding shock strut.

5. The combination of claim 1, wherein the pivot supports of the two shock absorbers of each pair are located and so inclined, with relation to the limits of movement afforded by the respective retracting mechanisms, to swing each groundcontacting element of the pair substantially into retracted position straddling the vertical longitudinal center plane of the fuselage.

6. The combination of claim 1, wherein the retracting mechanism includes a bracket arm offset longitudinally from the pivot axis, forwardly for one unit of each pair and rearwardly for the other unit of each pair, locking means extending between the fuselage and the outer, swinging end of said bracket arm, operable to retain its landing unit in retracted and in extended positions, respectively, and remotely-controlled lock-releasing means operatively connected to and movable with said locking means.

'7. The combination of claim 1, wherein the fuselage includes a forward and a rear bulkhead each formed with two notches each closed at its upper end, and inclined inwardly and upwardly, the respective pivot supports of the respective pairs of landing units being located transversely of the lower ends of said notches, four retracting jacks each pivotally mounted upon the corresponding bulkhead adjacent the closed upper end of the respective notches, and each operatively connected to its corresponding shock strut at one side of the latters pivot support, to swing through the notch during projection and retraction, a bracket arm directed rearwardly from the pivot support of the unit which retracts rearwardly, and forwardly for the unit which retracts forwardly, and an articulated locking strut remotelycontrolled, and extending between the fuselage bulkhead, in the vicinity of the closed end of each notch, to the outer swinging end of each bracket arm, and also swinging through the notch during projection and retraction.

8. The combination of claim '7, wherein each locking strut is formed in two parts pivotally connected and locked together, and pivotally connected at its ends to the bulkhead and to the shock strut, respectively, and located to swing through the corresponding notch in the bulkhead, the two parts being of a combined length to lie in alignment with one another when the shock strut is in extended position and likewise when in retracted position, and remotely-controlled lockreleasing means carried on one part adjacent their common pivot.

WILLIAM H. SCHLENDER.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,180,526 Johnsen Nov. 21, 1939 2,360,759 Chalberg Oct. 17, 1944 2,405,651 Height Aug. 13, 1946 2,457,884 Fulton Jan. 4, 1949 2,483,027 Van Zelm Sept. 27, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 510,164 Great Britain July 27, 1939 OTHER REFERENCES Fairchild: Western Flying Magazine, August 1950, page 1'7. 

